#ExplainIt: HK adland creatives on the recent 'Happy Hong Kong' campaign

The recent "Happy Hong Kong" campaign has kicked off with a series of activities over the past two weeks including hosting free large-scale food markets and offering discounted cinema tickets to HongKongers. 

As the city has returned to normalcy after three years of pandemic, the HK$20m campaign aims at stimulating local consumption and boosting the economy, in an effort to inject a positive spirit into the local community. 

Another highlight of the campaign is the upcoming large‑scale sea‑land carnival by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) on the Wan Chai promenade in July and August. It will feature music concerts with singers and bands from around the world, as well as X Games elements and street performances such as BMX and skateboards.

When asked how the administration would evaluate the effectiveness or success of the campaign, Paul Chan said that it would be “pretty difficult to have a very well-defined numeric criteria to be established as happiness is a kind of personal experience and it can be very emotional”.

However, the campaign has definitely drawn mixed reactions from local netizens. According to media intelligence firm CARMA, there has been a marked increase in media coverage surrounding the "Happy Hong Kong" campaign over the past 24 hours. Of the coverage, 21.6% of mentions were positive, while 25.7% were negative. Netizens have taken to various social media platforms to express their opinions, with many indicating their disappointment with the campaign.

CARMA's Hong Kong GM Charles Cheung told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously: "Notably, users on LIHKG criticised the campaign's name as outdated and reminiscent of 1980s-era campaigns. Many questioned whether the government truly understands what brings happiness to Hong Kong residents, with some suggesting that an additional round of consumption voucher scheme would be more effective."

Some netizens pointed out that the campaign appeared to be geared towards senior citizens, as one must have the time to queue up at Home Affairs Enquiry Centres to collect free entry tickets to the food market, according to CARMA. 

In light of this, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out to local adland creatives to find out their thoughts on the “Happy Hong Kong” campaign from a creative perspective.

Check out what they had to say.

Click on each picture to watch a video!

1. Yvonne Ma, founder and managing director, Eighty20

2. Joe Ng, creative partner, Frenger Communications

3. Chris Kyme, creative director, Kymechow

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